Xenonauts is an X-Com game, that tries to capture the spirit of the original. It is being developed by a small company (http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com), which has a very good community support and is mostly financed by kickstarter and preorders. Now it is short before going to Steam with a Beta Version.

I will do an extensive Preview, once it is short before going public and a very detailed Review as soon as it was published. I really like to support indie game companies especially the ones – many time in opposite to the big companies – who are listening and communicating with the community a lot. I am a premium preorderer myself and have been following the game for a long time. You can also check out my Lets Plays.

Xenonauts is turn-based in ground combat, real time with several tactical options in air combat and has a lot of base building and science of course. It is set in the era of the cold war. Aliens are trying to invade the earth…you start with one equipped base and receive monthly funding from bigger blocks (like Europe, North America and so on). By intercepting alien ships and winning the combat, relationships and funding will be increased, by failing to do so decreased.

The air combat works with fuel reserves, which give you extra options like evading and such – at the cost of fuel. So you have to balance the combat result (use the extras) to running out of fuel and by that ending the fight. You can pause any time to give orders…like whom to intercept and the above mentioned special orders… I would love to see pilots in person, who are also capable of gaining XP…but the combat itself I like already better than in the original X-Com, as it feels like you do influence the outcome of the fight and do not just get random results.

The ground combat is done in a beautiful 2D engine – which has some disadvantages (like no female model due to 2D – because it would mean that I every position (animation) and any kind of armour everything would need to get drawn and rendered again – and the budget for the game is tight) but looks really clean and detailed.

The music is really a masterpiece (sad that I am not allowed to play it in my German Lets Plays, due to strict German copyright laws) and the XP gaining is modernized. The soldiers gain ranks and skill points by using the skills. The balance is not complete yet and UIs will still get updated – but balance wise, with the right mods from great guys in the forums, you can have a lot of fun with the game already right now.

The game is mostly bug free and very stable – I did not have any CTDs in 8 hours of gameplay. The economy system allows to sell everything (some is on auto-sell after missions) and one can hire soldiers, planes, scientists and engineers one by one. You can and should build several bases with several interceptors and helicopters to cover all countries, which might otherwise defect to the aliens – I hope the feature to conquer these nations back will be implemented.

Other good stuff is crash sites of UFOs especially in the first weeks, so if one has bad luck one does not loose the game right away. Also countries can down a random amount of UFOs themselves, which adds to realism and immersion. I also like a lot that in ground combat, there are allies ranging from soldiers to civilists with weapons, who join your side and are not just victims… A lot will be added in the next weeks and I will keep you updated in my Lets Plays and another Preview. Just check them out to get your very own impressions about the game. I love it and it makes me feel already now like being back in my teenage days and hunting aliens in the 90s 😉

You can support the project by preordering the game – which is the major income source for the company.
The developers are great guys and listen to the community – you can even still influence the final product.
Have fun!
Steelwarrior77